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40
While collecting spiders in a mesic hammock on the evening of August 25, 1982, on the Ordway Preserve (Putnam
County, Florida), I observed two individuals of the species Phidippus otiosus (Hentz) outside of retreats on Spanish
moss (Tillandsia usnoides). One (an immature) appeared to be actively foraging, while another (an adult female) was
feeding on a noctuid moth. Both were observed approximately two and a half hours after sunset (at about 10:30
P.M.); the weather was overcast with a half moon giving weak general illumination. Such weak illumination may be
sufficient for this diurnal species to be active at night and hunt visually, or perhaps nocturnal activity in certain
salticids is not as extraordinary as it first seems, and other senses are used in prey detection and capture.